English: The Uninsured

If you live or work in the Netherlands, it is compulsory for you to take out Dutch health insurance. The health insurance covers your costs if you have to see a general practitioner (GP), attend hospital, see a psychiatrist or go to a pharmacy, for example.

If you live or work in the Netherlands and you do not have health insurance, you are registered as uninsured.

Tip

The health insurance always consists of the compulsory basic insurance. The government determines what medical care is covered by the basic insurance. In addition to the basic insurance, the excess is also a compulsory component.

You pay a monthly amount for the basic insurance, irrespective of whether you have received any healthcare. This amount is called the contribution. The price of the basic insurance and which costs are covered vary for each health insurer. This is because health insurers themselves may set conditions for the basic insurance. For example, a health insurer may allow you to decide for yourself which hospital you attend, but you will pay a higher contribution for this. Another health insurer may charge a lower contribution, but will stipulate which hospital you can be treated at.

Another compulsory part of the basic insurance is the excess. The excess is the amount you are charged if you incur healthcare costs. This amount is calculated and determined annually by the government. For 2020, the minimum amount of the excess is €385. This means that you first pay the first €385 yourself. The health insurer pays only the costs above this amount. If you have paid the excess in full and are still incurring healthcare costs, the health care insurer will in most cases pay for the additional costs you incur.

Since the basic insurance does not cover the costs of all healthcare, you can take out additional insurance policies, for dental treatment, various therapies and glasses or contact lenses, for example. You pay an additional monthly contribution for this. It is not compulsory to take out supplementary insurance.

You have received a letter because our records show that you are not insured. If you are registered in the Netherlands, you must take out insurance. Healthcare insurance from your home country is not sufficient.

If you are in the Netherlands temporarily to complete a course of study for example, this mandatory healthcare requirement may not apply to you. You should ask the SVB to review your situation as quickly as possible.

What happens if I fail to do this?

If you have not had a review or taken out basic insurance within three months of receiving the letter from us, you will be fined by the CAK. You pay this fine to the CJIB by means of payment slip. The amount of the fine in 2020 is €410,49. This amount is indexed annually.

If the basic insurance began within three months of the date of our letter, the fine will automatically be revoked. You do not need to take any action. If you have already paid (part of) the fine, we will refund the amount paid.

If your health insurance started three months after the date of our letter, you will still have to pay the fine to the CJIB.

Yes, you can. A proposed payment schedule is set out in the letter you received from the CJIB. This is the letter informing that you must pay a fine. If you have any questions about this, please contact the CJIB.

This can happen for a number of reasons. For example because you are (still) registered in the Netherlands, or work for a Dutch employer. This registration may require you to take out Dutch basic insurance. To avoid a fine and ascertain whether you need to take out health insurance, you can complete a Wlz review. You can apply for this via the SVB.

If you have already taken out Dutch basic health insurance, your health insurer must register you in the Reference Database for Persons Insured under the Dutch Health Insurance Act (Referentiebestand Verzekerden Zorgverzekeringswet, RBVZ).

If you are not registered, we will send you a letter informing you that you are uninsured. In that case, you should contact your health insurer.

If the Wlz review confirms that you do not need to take out insurance, we will send you a deregistration letter within three weeks of receiving the results. Please contact us using the contact form or phone us on 0800 - 5028 if you have not received this letter.